Hello i'm brand new to this community my name is Gary Daniel i'm 28 years old and in December i had a heart attack do to a substance i used once and about 2 hours after taking it i had a heart attack then went into Cardiac Arrest once. After getting out of the hospital my heart was only functioning at 15% after my echo was done then about 2 weeks ago i had another echo done and now my heart is functioning at 50% so since then i stopped smoking cigarettes and never touched that substance again but i get horrible panic attacks very often and can't sleep do to anxiety and i been back to the hospital a couple of times do to panic attacks that i thought were another heart attack and they gave me nitroglycerin which helped a lot but I'm really glad I found this site and I'm able to talk to other people about this it really calms me down.I would appreciate any advice and conversation to help calm my anxiety about everything that has happened.

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Congratulations on giving up cigarettes and also not taking the other substance which seems to have triggered your heart attack.

You mention being given nitroglycerin: is that you have an NTG spray which you can carry with you?

I know that originally I would get a little panicky if I forgot to take the spray out with me and I am still carrying the spray though I have not needed to use it and am looking forward to taking the supply into the chemist in July (when it expires).

My only advice is to continue leading as healthy a life as you can (like not smoking and exercising sensibly).

I think we all panic in the time after. Every twinge or nag or flutter bring it all back and its easy to convince ourselves we are going down that road again. Yes it's panic and also understandable. Time changes this but that's not much help when your living it. You have to find a coping mechanism. Meditation is good. I use Mindfulness. Works a treat for me. When the panic cones on I can find my breathing space and it goes away. Takes time also. But we have that now.

In mindfulness you are taught to concentrate on where you feel your breath when breathing in. It could be on your lips or in your nose. On your tongue or throat or chest or stomach. When you know this spot the concentrate on that spot and think of that spot. Of course you mind will wander but each time it does just bring it back to that spot. It will keep wandering and you gently bring it back. Eventually you will calm yourself. Practice when you are not breathless. Just sit on a chair with your feet on the floor and back straight. And concentrste on the breath going in and out. Tgen concentrste on the pkace you feel this. Not deep breaths just normal breaths. It's not a challenge to Stop your mind wandering. Just gently nudge it back to you breathing spot.

I am very sorry you are having these experiences. They can definitely be very shocking. One thing I use that has worked for me when I start feeling panic is Tapping. You may want to check this out: thetappingsolution.com/ There are plenty of free resources about it there or you can simply Google Tapping or EFT. Wishing you peace and better health.

Look after your body. So pleased you have given up those cigarettes. I go through panic attacks all the time, but I do find a lot of comfort reading the stories on here. Its 4 weeks since mine (read my story), I thought Id had it! Im now starting walking, something I couldnt see me ever doing again. As all my family and mates tell me, "you only get one heart, look after it"